Edible emulsions are used as a base for many types of food products. Mayonnaise compositions, for example, comprise edible oil-in-water emulsions that typically have between 80 to 85% by weight oil, and egg yolk, salt, vinegar and water.
The oil present in the edible emulsions used in such food products is generally present as droplets dispersed in the water phase.
In addition to droplet size and the amount of droplets dispersed, the close packing of the oil droplets results in the characteristic rheological behaviour of the emulsions used to make the desired food product (e.g. mayonnaise).
Notwithstanding the fact that many consumers enjoy the taste of full fat products, there is an increasing demand for food, products prepared from edible emulsions that have less fat and calories than conventional full fat products.
It is known that attempts have been made to formulate reduced fat and calorie food products, like mayonnaise compositions. In particular, it has been disclosed in WO-05/039316 that edible emulsions comprising insoluble fibres can be used as a base to make a variety of food products, and result in a food product that has the characteristic of a full fat product when less than the conventional amount of oil is employed.
However, it has been observed that the creaminess of such low-oil, insoluble fibre-containing edible emulsions often leaves to be desired due to the relatively high insoluble fibre content needed for structuring purposes.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to find a process for preparing an edible emulsion, by which process a low-oil edible emulsion can be prepared which emulsion has reduced insoluble fibre content but similar texture and sensorial properties (in particular: creaminess), and improved mouth feel as compared to low-oil, insoluble fibre containing emulsions of the prior art.
It has now surprisingly been found that this object can be achieved by a method for preparing an insoluble fibre-containing edible emulsion, wherein a slurry of the insoluble fibre in water is first frozen and ground before being homogenized.